MVCC Board Votes “NO” to Restore Venice Blvd to Three Lanes Each Way

A standing-room-only crowd gathered at the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) meet to hear Restore Venice Coalition motion that would restore Venice Blvd to three lanes each way as opposed to the two-lane configuration that has occurred as a result of the “Great Streets” project.

Bikers, owners of bike shops, bikers representing bike organizations, Playa del Rey residents, Venice residents, and residents and business owners of Mar Vista were present to provide pros and cons for the motion presented. People were given one minute and then 30 seconds because there were so many people.

The result was that only three of eleven MVCC board members voted to restore Venice Blvd to its original three-lane configuration. The three voting for were Hollie Tilson (represents area closest to Venice), Michelle Krupkin (co-chair of both Great Streets ad hoc committee and Transportation and Infrastructure committee) and Ken Alpern (co-chair of Transportation and Infrastructure committee).`

The others wanted to wait for one year until they had more data. It sounded like a one-year trial but was mentioned at the meet that it was going to be a two-year trial. It was previously reported to be reviewed in three months.

Another motion was made and approved to have all data turned over to MVCC for analysis.

“Data” was not defined. Is it accident, incident data? Is it “feel good,” “calming” data for those who live and work in area. No previous accident, incident data was provided before or after the ‘Great Streets” initiation. Restore Venice Coalition has requested traffic data from Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

Nat Gale, principal project coordinator for Los Angeles Department of Transportation, will present LADOT data on the first month of Venice Blvd “diet,” as some call it. The meet will be held at Saturday, 22 July from 1-3 pm at Windward School, 11350 Palms Blvd.

“Great Streets” is billed as a place where people want to come to shop and businesses consequently make more money. The even “larger picture” to this story is that 82 percent of the business owners do not like this. Their sales are down. One owner said she doubted if she would survive the year. People, businesses are not cozying up to the idea of this small town effect. It is hurting them. See article.

Mike Bonin spoke first to explain the process; a representative from Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) spoke next. The LADOT spokesperson explained in theory why this would be a calming and safety effect based one of Newton laws of physics.

Venice Blvd was State Route 187
Venice Blvd, formerly State Route 187, is the major thoroughfare between Lincoln Boulevard in Venice, which is Route 1, and Interstate 10 in the South Robertson district. It has affected, according to one speaker, 19,000 daily commuters from all over the area. Chris Cerbo produced documents showing the number of commuters to be 32,000. Several speakers were from the Playa del Rey area and were caught with, not only the road diet there, but Venice Blvd.

The State “relinquished” Venice Blvd to the City for the “Great Streets” program as requested by Councilman Mike Bonin. The “Great Streets” is in line with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s streetscape design for pockets of Los Angeles. LADOT Director Seleta Reynolds was hired to implement “Great Streets.” Councilman Mike Bonin lives in Mar Vista.

Downturn in Business
But the “Great Streets” project that was to give Venice Blvd in Mar Vista the “small town effect in the big city” has resulted in not just traffic calamity but downturn in business activity.

Several business people spoke and said their business income was down. One owner who spoke owns the Mar Vista, Venice Grind, and MV Grab and Go and he said his business income was down. Ace Hardware said his business was down 4 percent from last year. One lady said she did not think she would survive the year.

Car traffic has diverted thru neighborhoods
The car traffic, which will continue, has diverted to side streets to the chagrin of those residents who live on the side streets. “Divert bikers to the side streets, not cars,” one commenter said. People still have to go from A to B; the questions is what is the fastest way. Emergency vehicle response time has increased according to one commenter and he had seen emergency vehicles using the bike lane.

One commenter said “if you really want to slow down traffic, change the speed limit.”

Sounds like it is all for the bikers, pedestrians
It appears the “Small Town” effect has succumbed to mean protect bikers, safety for pedestrians. Although, one commenter mentioned that a wheel chair has to go off the curb at the corner and navigate the bike lane to the pedestrian traffic cross walk.

One speaker did say there had been bike incidents and a skateboarder accident since the new configuration. But no one presented accident figures for previous years or since implementation of the “Great Streets.”

Kevin, Thank you so much. Will do a story later today on this. I was told by council office that Beethoven to Inglewood had been relinquished by the State but didn’t know about the whole 5 plus miles. Thank you.

Recent Comments

Rick Swinger { Listen Up! Pollution effects Everybody! Thats includes you Billy and me and the homeless etc. We are all in the same boat here. You don't have to have a degree in Biology to understand thats Rats have killed more people than any other rodent and we have lots of them... } – 2405 9:25 AM

Billy Bathgate { NIMBY is too polite a term for the likes of arrogant pretentious jerks like you. In fact there is no word for the likes of people like you that wouldn't be censored by the owner of this site so I'll just have to save it for if we ever meet... } – 2405 6:49 AM

{ Bonin was elected by the very people who live in other areas of CD 11 and who benefit by placing ALL of the adversity in Venice. That said, had Bonin proposed this "Home of the homeless" BS (as well as the stupid "road diet" during his re-election campaign, the people... } – 2305 10:03 AM

Billy Bathgate { Elections have consequences Kip. Your homeless hating candidate for City Council didn't win. And the people of Los Angeles voted to pony up and do something about getting the homeless of L.A. off the sidewalks and into housing. Now would be a good time for your side to shut up.... } – 2205 7:49 PM

Nick Antonicello { The only way to get out of the bureaucratic clutches of LA, Garcetti and Bonin is to support cityhood for Venice. Our own Mayor and Council directly elected by Venetians with a land use body with teeth that can restrict such impositions by the far larger LA. Does Garcetti or... } – 2205 11:36 AM

Billy Bathgate { Nothing wrong with me but there is definitely something wrong with all of you who do nothing but complain 24/7 about the homeless and then oppose every move to get them housed so they won't be homeless anymore. Iflily white Brentwood or Pacific Palisades is your idea of an ideal... } – 2105 3:20 PM

{ Billy, poor is poor - These folks are drunk, drugged and/or crazy. That is what makes them "poor." Once again, anyone who opposes the crap that is going on in Venice either hates the "poor" or is a "racist" for not wanting a dangerous and possibly contagious population of "travelers"... } – 2105 1:31 PM

Will { I think you said everything. Thanks for your support. } – 2105 1:08 PM

Publius { not gonna read your press release for yourself Hawkins; it's a calculated distraction, responds to nothing; you've intentionally missed opportunities to observe what others have now had to multiply document, and that documentation is as stunning as your WILLful (ignorance) Hawkins. You and do not merit a response to your... } – 2105 11:51 AM

Will { One cannot compare the work done by a faith-based group working full time with city funds with a bunch of elected volunteers working part time with community donations. The work done by the Venice Homeless Committee is unprecedented and has gone well beyond its duties to this community in housing... } – 2105 9:57 AM

{ I LOVE that they posted them. But these homeless folks will ignore them UNLESS they get arrested on a daily basis. LAPD needs to assert their power. Its a psychological game that the neighborhood and LAPD are starting to WIN against the homeless and their hypocritical "advocates" that don't live... } – 2105 9:21 AM